Class Assignments and Reflections

What happens in the ED?
I was once admitted to the ED for a severe sore throat. I decided to check myself in after the problem progressed to the point where I had difficulty chewing and swallowing. I checked myself in at around 6am and left the ED at 12pm. The ED during this hour was not busy at all; there were probably a total of 3 patients, including me, waiting to be seen. The procedures that I followed are listed below:

1. Check in with receptionist – insurance info, paper work, etc.

2. Wait

3. Nurse triage – get history, vitals, ordered tests, etc.

4. Wait

5. Saw the physician for 5-8 minutes

6. Wait for the test results to come back (I was put in a bed to sleep by this time)

7. Saw the doctor again and she explained the results, prescribed some medicine

8. Leave the ED

I am guessing that the long wait is attributed to lack of staff (nurses and doctors), and waiting for the test results. But six hours is still a pretty long wait.

After Dr. Ackerman presented his ppt on his work in the ED, I could sympathize a little bit more with why there is such a long wait. There is simply a lot of volume and not enough staff to handle the traffic.